Windmill



(No Moda.) s sheetssheet 1. G. W. PENN.

WINDMILL. No. 355,203. Patented Deo. 28, 1886.

l am" N PETERS4 Fhnln-Lilhographer. Washinglbn, D, C.

(No Model.)

G. W. PENN.

3 Sheet eeeeeee 2.

I WINDMILL. No. 355,203. Patented Dec. v28, 1,886.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. W. PENN.`

WINDMILL.

No. 855,208. Y Patented Dec. 28,` 1888.

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Nire'n STATES-l PATENT Ferca.

GEORGE W. PENN, OF ONAWA, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO OLIVER G. STOWELL, OF DELAVAN, VISOONSIN. Y

w-INDM LL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,203, dated December 28, 1886.

Appliraiim filed April 17, 1836. Serial No. 199,170. (No model.)

To all whoml t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. PENN, of Onawa, in the county of Monona, and'in the State oi Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in W'indmills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to windmills; and it consists in certain peculiar means for automatically elevating and depressing a horizontally-pivoted vane in accordance with thelateral movement of a piVotally-hung wheel, whereby a variable resistance is had to the deflection of the latter.

My invention further consists in adjusting the wind-wheel to any angle less than a right angle to the vane, and in the general mechani! cal construction and combination of operative elements, as will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Y Figure l represents a side elevation of a portion of a windmill embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a detail plan view of the means for elevating the vane as the wheel comes out of the Wind, taken on line x w, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a detail sectional view on line y y, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a portion of the wheel in rear elevation; Fig. 5, a plan view taken on line z z, Fig. l; Fig. 6, a detail sectional view on line w w, Fig. l; Fig. 7, a View showing the lmanner of uniting the radial arms of the wheel with the interposed section-bars; Figs. 8 and 49, detail views of a connecting-casting employed at the meeting points of the wheel-arms and section-bars; Fig. l0, a plan view on line g q, Fig. l; Fig. l1, an elevation showing another form of. my invention; Fig. 12, a plan view on line Z Z, Fig. 1l, and Fig. 13, adetail showing themanner of connecting the wheel-bracket with the gate in the latter form of my invention.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents a tubular mast, and B the bed-plate that ts upon said part and receives the upper ends of the tower-posts.

Gast or otherwise rigidly secured to the mast A is the socket a of a bracket, O, that is provided with a sectional bearing, b, for the shaft of the wind-wheel D, said bearing having oilports b. The parts A and O form what is denominated in windmills as the turn-table.7

The wheelshaft carries a disk, D', that is eccentrically connected to one end of a pitman, E, the other end of this pitman being in turn connected to an arm, c, that extends out from a sleeve, F, that sets upon a collar, d, -near the upper end of the pump-rod G, said sleeve being held down against this collar by jamnuts d. y Y

The wheel D has its radial arms H and sec- 6o tion-bars I united by right and left castingsK K', that have right-angular ilanges e e' designed to tit over and upon opposite sides of said radial arms, to form sockets therefor, a bolt, f, being passed through these flanges and arms to retain the parts in their relative arrangement, as illustrated in detail,'Fig, 7. At an acute angle to the right-angular flange of the ,castings- K K' are seats g g', that receive the ends of the section-bars, and the latter are 7o ,rigidly secured therein by suitable screws,

rivets, or bolts, h.

'.By the employment of the castings just described a simple, firm, and durable joint is established between the radial wheel-arms and the sectionbars,thus simplifying the construc- Y tion and permitting the wheel to be more readily set up than is ordinarily the case.

Adapted to fit loosely upon the tubular mast A are the collars z' fi', that extend outat right 8o angles to a gate, L, though I may vary this arrangement to produce the same result. The collar t" is provided with a lug, 7c, that is con nected by a horizontal pivot, M, to a bracket, M', said bracket being provided with a socket 8 5 for the shaft N of the vane N', the latter being retained in place by set-bolts m; and secured to lateral projections k of this socket are the adjacent ends of the stay-rods N'Z for said vane, these projections being strengthened by webs 9c k2. From the collar i projects a stud, n, and j ournaled on this stud is the hub o of a toothed segment, O, that meshes with a pinion, Q, preferably mutilated to lessen the cost of manufacture, and rigidly connected to the tubular mast A, said segment being retained in oper ative position by key and washer o' upon the c outer end of the stud.

The above construction is the one preferred for small mills; but for larger ones I may eX- kICAO tend the bracket C in an upward direction, and pivotally connect the same with the collar of the gate L, as shown in detail, Fig. 13, and. provide said extension at its upper end with a suitable rack, Q', equivalent to the pinion Q, and designed to mesh with the toothed segment O, this construction being illustrated by Figs. 1l and 12, the partApreferably extended only to the top of the gate-collar i.

' Fast upon the hub of the toothed segment is one end of a cam-lever, P, though, if desired, both parts may be made in one piece, said cam-lever having'its upper edge provided with a groove, r, and its free end connected to an extremity of a chain or cable, R, that passes over a pulley, L, journaled in the top of the gate L, and extends down to be connected with a suitable lever. The end of the camlever P that is secured to thesegment-hub has fast thereto one end of a chain, S, the other end being made fast to a rod, S', in turn secured to the vaueN.

The bracket M. is provided with a depending arm, M", recessed at its lower end to receive an elastic cushion, s, on a bolt, s', the head ofthe latter bearing against a stop, t, at the bottom of the gate L when the vane is horizontal and the wheel full in the wind.

Rearwardly extended from the bracket C and parallel thereto is a perforated lug, u, that acts as a stop to prevent'the movement of the wheel to the left, and receives a screw-bolt, o, the head of which latter is designed to come against a stop, t, at the bottom of the gate L, when the wheel is full n the wind, this screwbolt being suitably adjusted to limit the movement of said wheel. By operating the bolt c the wheel D is deflected, so as to be at any desired angle less than a right angle in a direction toward the vaneN, and thus the speed of this wheel may be regulated at pleasure, while at the same time said wheel is caused to start out of the wind in exact proportion to its deflection, this adjustment being illustrated by Fig. 10.

Laterall y extended from the socket a of the bracket C is a lug, a', that acts as a stop to limit the movement of the wheel toward the right.

When the velocity of Athe wind becomes too great, the wheelD comes out of the wind toward the right, the bracket C being rigid on the tubular mast A causes the latter to turn in its bearings, and the segment O is operated to elevate the cam-lever P, and through the chain-and-rod connection S S raises the vane N from a horizontal position, the slack of said chain being laid in a groove on the upper edgeof this cam-lever. When the wheel comes parallel to the vane, or entirely out of the wind, said vane will assume the position illusltrated by dotted lines, Fig.' l.

the velocity of the wind is suiiciently lessened to allow said wheel to come into action. When theuvane falls to a horizontal position, to thereby bring the wheel full in the wind, the elastic cushion s in the arm M2 of the bracket M compensates for the shock incident to any sudden movement of this kind.

It will be noticed that the bracket M partly supports thervane, so that when lthe wheel D is full in wind and ready to start on its initiatory movement toward said vane the latter will be exerting its minimum power, thus offering little or no resistance to such movement. As the wheel starts on its movement toward the vane the cam-lever P commences to raise and increases in leverage from its axis n, and as the wind increases in velocity the wheel is deiected more and more, while at the same time the leverage on the part P is proportionately increased, thus causing a greater elevation of said vane and oering a proportion-v ally greater resistance to the deflection of the wheel toward the vane. As the wind decreases in velocity the weight of the vane tends to restore the wheel to its normal position, the leverage of the cam-lever being at the same time proportionately decreased. Vhen thevelocity of the wind equals the weight of the vane, measuring from' the point where the chain S comes in contact with the cam-lever, the wheel` and said vane are balanced, and thus remain until an increase or decrease of wind disturbs this balance.

By the above description it will be seen that the vane at all times exerts a variable resistance to the wheel, according to the velocity of IOC the wind, the force that resists the deflection 4 deliecting force, and the two forces acting upon this Wheel being equal, will hold the latter in the position desired. It', then, the wind i increases, it will overcome the resisting force, and the wheel will swing farther around toward the vane until parallel therewith. Should the wind decrease, the resisting force will overcome the detlecting force, and cause the wheel to swing more into the wind, said ywheel automatically adjust-ing itself to the velocity of the wind and running at substantially a uniform speed, the operation being Very simple and entirely automatic, while the various parts necessary to e'ect the above result are very simple in construction and arrangelnent, and not likely to get out of order.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent-,is-

l. The combination of a pivotally-hung wind-Wheel, a suitable vane, and means, substanti ally as described, for'adjusting the Wheel to any angle less than a right angle to said vane, as set forth.

2. The combination of a pivotally-hung wind-Wheel and a suitable vane with a screwbolt operatively arranged to adjust the Wheel to any angle less than a right angle to said vane, as set forth.'

3. Thecombination of a pivotally-hung wind-Wheel, a loose gate, a vane horizontally pivoted to the gate, means, substantially as described, for automatically elevating and depressing the vane in accordance With the lateral movement of the Wheel, and a screw-bolt operatively arranged -to impinge against the base of said gate, as and for the purpose set forth.

4c. The combination of a pivotally-hung wind-Wheel, a loose gate, a vane horizontally pivoted to the gate, a cam-faced lever pivotally united to said gate and flexibly counected to the vane, and a suitablegear for operating said lever, as and for the purpose setv forth.

5. The combination of the radial arms and section-bars of thelwind-wheel with a means for uniting said parts, that consists of right and left castings having right-angular flanges arranged to fit over and upon opposite sides of the arms to form sockets therefor, and each casting provided with a seat at an acute angle to its respective socket-flange, that receives the adjacent end of asection-bar, the several parts being retained in their relative arrangement by suitable bolts, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. Ihe combination of a mast and a gate loose thereon with a bracket pivotally connected to the gate and provided with a socket for a vane-shaft, said bracket having lateral projections to receive the ends of vane stayrods and a depending arm that has a recessin its lower end, an elastic cushion seated in said recess, and a suitable Mbolt passed through the arm and cushion, as set forth.

7. The combination of a mast, a gate loose on the same, and a Vane having its shaft pivoted to the gate, a bracket rigidly connected 5o to the mast and having a bearing for a wheelshaft, said bracket provided with a lateral lug and a rearWardlyeXtended lng arranged to Vcome in and out of contact With the bottom of the gate, and an adjusting-bolt operative 1n 55 the latter lug, as set forth.

8. The combination of the mast provided with a suitable gear, a gate loose on said mast, a vane-shaft pivotally connected to the gate, a toothed segment journaled to the gate and ar- 6o ranged to mesh With the gear, and a lever eX- tended out from the segment, and means for flexibly connecting the lever and vane, as set forth.

9. The combination of the masthaving apinion fast thereon, a gate having right-angular collars that loosely t the mast, and a rearwardly-eztended lug, a toothed segment journaled to the gate and arranged to mesh with the pinion on said mast, a vane having its shaft pivotally connected to the lng on said gate, a camlever fitted to the hub ofthe segment, and a fiexible connection that unites said vane and lever, as and for the purpose set forth.

10. The mast having a pinion fast thereon, a gate loose on said mast and provided at its top With a suitable pulley and at its bottom with buffer-faces, a toothed segment arranged to mesh with said pinion, a cam-1ever extended out' from the segment and having its lower end connected to a shifting-chain, in combination with a bracket horizontally pivoted to a lug on the gate, this bracket being provided with a depending buffer-arm and a socket, a vane having its shaft secured in said socket, a v

bracket fast on the mast and provided with a lateral lug, a rearwardly'extended lug and bearing for the wheel-shaft, and a chainandrod connection for said lever and vane, all arranged to operate as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two Witnesses.

e GEORGE W. PENN.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWooD, N. E. OLIPHANT. 

